Arlen Specter: Principled or Sore Loser?

Yesterday 79 year old Arlen Specter, Senator from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, left the republican party to become a democrat. This shortly after telling Newsweek that he would not. If Senator Specter was doing this out of principle, I would applaud the move. I believe that our elected officials must lead based on principle. While I may not agree with the principles that particular people have, I, at least, will respect that they are doing it based on their value system.
Senator Specter has shown none of that in the past few days. The polling showing him losing badly to Pat Toomey is the reason for his departure of the GOP. Doesn't this just make him look like a man who can't handle losing? What is so unbelievable is how easily he admits it. Just flat out says that he can't win as a republican, so hey, what the heck, I am not ready to retire so I am going to walk away from my principles and do whatever is needed to win.
I am having a hard time understanding why he just didn't go through the primary process and run as an independent if he did indeed lose the nomination. It worked for Joe Lieberman, Independent Senator from Connecticut. While I don't promote that activity, it makes more sense than just up and leaving your party for nothing more than self-serving purposes.
How can anyone trust the man from this point forward? What will stop him from making a realization after getting elected that he did the wrong thing and want to go back to the republicans? I doubt they would want him back after this, but all the same, it could happen. I don't live in Pennsylvania, so I have no say in how this turns out. But one must admit, it is going to be a fun election to watch.

Miss USA and Politics

I am sure by now you have heard about the Miss USA Pageant last week. Miss California, Carrie Prejean, was asked a question about Gay Marriage. The question came from openly gay Perez Hilton. Ms. Prejean answered the question by standing up for her Christian beliefs.
Perez Hilton does not have a record of tolerance. This is a man who "outs" other gay people, whether they want to be open about it or not. So it should come as no surprise that he has no tolerance for her beliefs.
What is really disturbing about it is his reaction to it on his blog. Calling her every name in the book. Isn't that uncalled for? It seems to me the only thing that she is guilty of is being honest about her value system.
No matter where you fall on this particular issue you should be at least be able to understand that others are not going to agree with you. Miss California goes to a Christian college. It makes one wonder if that background information was part of the decision making process that went into asking that question. Other people involved in the pageant lambasted Carrie's answer as well. Saying these types of politics don't belong in the Miss USA pageant. Well, then why was that question allowed to be asked? It was a yes or no question; you have 50% chance that the answer would be no.
I think that if you look at the evidence from this particular incident, you will clearly see that the hate is coming from Perez Hilton; not Miss California. I think that this is just one more glaring example of the intolerance towards people of the Christian faith in this county that is becoming more prevalent every day.

DC School Vouchers

1700 children from low income families living in The District of Columbia were given vouchers to attend schools of their choice. These families never would have been able to afford these schools without the help of the government. For those of you who don't know, the school system in our nation's capital is an embarrassment to our nation. The public school system in DC spends more money per pupil and has the least to show for it across our nation.
This only goes to prove that throwing money at this is not going to solve the problem. The problems in the DC school system has been going on for decades. Many of the people who live there are poor, and due to the lack of a higher education only makes that problem worse. The poverty is being passed onto the next generations. There is a new sheriff in town to help turn this problem around. Chancellor Michelle Rhee deserves much praise for her hard work and dedication to solving this problem. She has brought innovation and inspiration to improving the system that educates our next generation.
That being said, this problem is not going to be solved anytime soon, as the problems run very deep and are complex. To get back to my original point of these vouchers, the democratic controlled Congress has decided to stop funding this program. This is one of the ways the democrats lose me. They are supposed to be the party of the poor, the party that cares about the children. Those mean republicans don't care about poverty or the educational needs of our low-income children. Than why is it, that the republicans wanted to keep these vouchers in place?
Before you say the same old mantra of this being only 1700 children and what about the rest of them? Some of these children will be graduating this year and it will not affect them, but the rest of these kids have been in an environment that is not only safe, but has challenged them. The bar has been set high and they have made the choice to reach it. These children have the real chance of getting a great education, possibly scholarships to college, and most importantly the chance to lift their families out of poverty. Possibly for the first time in generations. While I agree that every child in this country regardless of race, creed, religion, or economic status deserves a great education, the point is that they will not get it with the current system. So what is the harm in helping these children get a better start in life? These kids will grow up and look back and realize that the government can be used for good and that all people can be given the chance to succeed in this country. A chance to reach the "American Dream". I would bet that if all 1700 of these kids are given the chance to continue at their chosen schools they will, as adults, give back to the community that gave them this opportunity.
President Obama has said that he feels these students should be able to finish school. You won't hear me say this often, but I for one agree with him.
The President is in a sticky situation, two of these children attend Sidwell Friends School. With all the money he made last year, don't you think he could help these two kids get the same education that he chosen for his own daughters?

The start of something

This is all new to me. I have never done anything like this before. But, I have found that I have been doing many things that I never thought I would do.
I recently joined the 9/12 group and I am not much of a joiner. That is the group that Glenn Beck started. Or, urged other people to start. I also went to the tea party protest in Washington DC. Something else I never thought I would do.
I never have had anything against anyone who went to protests; not really anyway. But I never thought it was for me. I don't even know why except that it is just not to common among conservatives. I wasn't a conservative when I was younger. I guess I went through the normal we can save the world phase in my 20's. I just have realized that saving the world doesn't mean what I thought it did at that age.
So, what has come over me? Well, I have been a political junkie for long time. I am a big believer in not just voting, but being an informed voter. I want to know everything that is going on. Well, the politcal climate in this country is such that I have felt that I have no choice to but to do these things.
So these posts are going to be my thoughts on what is going on in this great country of ours. I am not sure that anyone else will be interested, but if you ask anyone else who knows me, I have a very interesting point of view.